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“Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.” Jim Rohn
We’re down to our last week on the Island. It’s amazing to think that we’ve been here two and a half weeks already! How wonderful it has been to not have an agenda when we get up in the morning. We have our list of things we wanted to do this trip, and we’ve been ticking them off slowly but surely. There have been days we’ve been on the go from sunrise till way past sunset. Other days, we’re just out and about leisurely exploring and discovering and experiencing, as much as we can, what the Island has to offer. A few times we’ve just stayed “in”, lounging around the pool, soaking in the hot tub, taking naps.
We’ve been coming here every year since 2005. Every year we seem to stay a little bit longer. This year it seemed to take us a good two weeks to really relax and get in to the kicked back attitude of the Islands. We are working while we’re here as well . . . so it’s not all play and no work. But how can we complain – telecommuting from a place like this?? Having a good team back home is really enabling us to take this time for ourselves. Being able to spend this time away together is something many people only dream about doing.
We’ve turned our dream in to a reality.
( This is the view from our Villa. Can you find us in the photo?)
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“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!” Audrey Hepburn
We hiked a few more beaches today finding a few more spots that we’d never been to before. Some of the trails are quite steep and slippery as we’ve had more rain the last few days. We did a little geo-caching along the way, dropping a couple of trackables that my son sent over with me. Geo-caching is how we’ve discovered quite a few out-of the way places on the Island that are not traveled by the average tourist.
It’s a fun activity that can be done all over the world. I highly recommend it. It’s a wonderful activity for kids as well. They love the excitement of “the hunt” and it gets them outside in the fresh air, getting exercise and quality time with Mom and Dad. It’s a GREAT family activity any time of the year.
These days all you really need is a cel phone with GPS tracking on it – or for the more serious Geo-Cache’r purchase an actual GPS unit. We haven’t done that yet – but after this trip when we’ve had a few times without 3G access . . . I’m seriously considering purchasing one.
Check out Geo-Caching.com for information on cache’s all over the world. You’ll find many in your area!
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“It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere.” – Agnes Repplier, 1855-1950
I’m not sure I can really say much more than what that quote states.
I do believe it’s a choice I make in every action, thought, interaction to be accountable for what I put out in the world. In turn that comes back to me ten fold in what I interpret as happiness. I find in my relationship with my husband that together we keep each other accountable and on track. We support each other through the times when it’s not so easy to keep a positive outlook. However, it’s not his job to “make” me happy.
I am responsible for the experience I create for myself.
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“The relationship between husband and wife should be one of closest friends.” B.R. Ambedkar
12.12.12 @ 12:12
Where were you? What were you doing?
Considering that this phenomenon will not happen again within our lifetime, I decided it had to be documented in my 365 Project. It was interesting to set this up with other people watching with curiosity. In fact, there is a fellow just off to the right in the hot tub smiling at us while the camera snapped away on Self Timer mode. This will be a great memory to pass on to our Grandkids and Great Grandkids so that they can see their Ya Ya and Papa G living life, not letting life just pass by. I want my future generations to be motivated and excited about exploring the world and living life to the fullest for as long as is possible. We live in a very mobile world where it is easier and easier to travel the world over and experience life on a level that my parents never did. And I never did either until recently – within the last ten years. And I’m now hooked!
And I’m doing it with my Best Friend!
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“In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can.” Nikos Kasantzakis
I have heard about Polihale Beach on the south west side of the Island – at the end of the road. Everything I read held so many warnings about driving on the road out there – that it was very dangerous and rough and not to attempt it unless you had a good 4WD, or with a Local with good transportaion. Despite all the warnings however, we had to attempt the drive because of all the positive things we’ve heard about the beach at the end of the road. It just sounded too spectacular to pass up. So off we went – on a day of exploring.
We were detoured with a stop at Glass Beach in Port Allan where we found an old Cemetery on a hill above the beach – very old with what looks like old Chinese headstones and very neglected and overgrown.
We ate lunch at a spot we found last year called The Grind – excellent food!
We then drove out to where the pavement ends just past the Missile Base and started the drive on the five mile dirt road out to Polihale Beach State Park. Another car (similar to our Rental) was coming from that direction so we stopped them to ask how the road was. They indicated that it was no worse than what we were on – so off we went. Sure enough – the road was not bad at all and we arrived at this amazing sand beach that was surprisingly busy! You can even take your 4WD vehicle out on the beach and drive for miles – so we’ll save that for our next trip to Kauai. In fact, there were several people camping right on the beach – very tempting indeed! We wandered on the beach most of the afternoon and didn’t head back out until after sunset. Amazing Sunset shots let me tell you! I would love to have stayed even longer to get some good star trails and night sky shots but it was a 2+ hour drive back to our Condo on the North Shore.
We have decided that we’ll come back next time prepared to spend a few nights out on the beach, and with a 4WD vehicle.
Yet one more amazing discovery for us on this truly amazing Island!
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“A mind at peace, a mind centered and not focused on harming others, is stronger than any physical force in the universe.” Wayne Dyer
It’s pretty tough not to feel at peace and centered in my own strength in a place like this.
I am humbled by the beauty and power of Mother Nature.
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“No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions, and to build confidence in the creative spirit.” Ansel Adams
I’ve become fascinated by the whole concept of long exposure photography. We’ve bought some ND filters, so now I can explore this medium in daylight whereas before I could only do it at night. It’s a whole new learning curve, and is teaching me even more about the requirements of a good photograph and about how light affects everything – whether there is lack of it or not. Today I played around with creating a silky effect of the ocean waves washing ashore over the lava rocks on the beach. Longer exposures (2 seconds up to 30 seconds seem to create a whispy, dreamy effect while faster shutter speeds (1/4 or 1/2 second) create the long, silky ribbon effect. These are all done with a .4 and .8 ND filter stacked on my 70-200mm VRII lens). I even stacked a polarizer for the longer exposures.
The composite below is of my walking shoe impression in the sand (can’t climb the lava rocks in bare feet), and one of the long exposure shots I did. This one was at 3 seconds.
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“Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.” Wayne Dyer
I choose to motivate myself. There’s no fun in being miserable!
Today we went hiking down one of the local beaches that we’d not explored before. We happened upon this awesome tree that obviously has been rooted in this spot for awhile! I enjoyed crawling though the huge root system to see what I could find. No surprises . . . so I enjoyed the view of the ocean from the safety and shade of it’s arms.
Processed in LR4 and Photoshop CS6.
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“The most effective way to do it, is to do it.” Emelia Earhart
We’re hiking around the north shore rocky beaches of Kauai today. I had my 105mm macro lens on the camera taking shots of rock crabs and whatever else caught my fancy. Then I sat down to just take a little break and this caught my fancy! Sand on my shoes. The story here is that I really hate getting my shoes mucked up – with mud or sand or anything else. Usually I would take my shoes off to walk in the sand . . . but the beach we’re on today is just too rocky and I would cut my feet if I climbed on them in bare feet. So – here are my sandy shoes soaked with salty Pacific Ocean water . . . but so what! I’m having a great time and getting some really great shots . . .
I can always buy another pair of shoes!
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“Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now.” Denis Waitley
I took this shot from the beach at Hanalei Pier as the sun was setting over the Bali Hai Mountains (taken from the movie South Pacific which was filmed just north of here). Such a beautiful and serene shot. I had been playing around most of the afternoon with slow shutter speed shots under the pier. When I finally popped out to see what Glen was up to – this is the scene I captured.
Kind of takes your breath away eh? And gives a person pause to think about where you are in life, where you’ve come from, where you are going . . . I have huge respect for the fact that the answer to those questions is different for each and every one of us. For me what I know for sure is that every experience I’ve had in my life has created the person I am today.
I am grateful for every one of those moments, good or bad. I am determined going forward that in my experience of life . . . I am leaving positive footprints for others to follow, and leaving a trail of positive energy for others to be inspired as well.
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Nurture Self 365 